Pencil with two lead carriers



Jan. 6, 1931. E. ETOH PENCIL WITH TWO-LEAD CARRIERS- Filed Aug. 12, 1929 Patented Jan. 6, 1931 UNITED STATES EIKIGIE IIRO ETOH, F OSAKA, JAPAN PENCIL WITH TWO LEADCARRIERS Application filed August 12, 1929, Serial No. 385,160, and in Japan. December- 10, 1928. i

This invention relates to improvements in a pencil with two lead carriers for different colors, which comprises a screw tube rotatively mounted about a stationary guide tube,

6 two lead carriers being provided in the guide tube and a carrier controller mounted at the end of the guide tube, which is .the characteristic feature of this invention. The object of this invention is to provide a simple and reliable mechanism which can feed out or in the leads alternately, by keeping the lead carrier not in use at the inner end of the guide tube while another carrier is moved for use in either direction. 1

This invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a pencil according to this invention,

Figs. 2 and 3 are cross sectional views on the lines II and III of Fig. 1, respectively, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a carrier controller.

In the drawing, 1 designates the casing or outer shell of the pencil, in which is .firmly held a guide tube 6 by means of a filling piece 5. A screw tube 4, which is rotatively mounted on the guide tube, can be rotated in either direction by means of a cap piece 2 provided at the end of the casing, said cap piece being connected with the screw tube by a short tube 3 which is slidably held in the casing.

held in each space.

The guide tube 6 is divided into two spaces, a and b, of semi-circular section by a long tudinal'partition 7, and a lead carrier 0 1s The lead carrier 0 consists of a lead holder 9 and a bar 11 which has *abent end to form a lug 10. The lug extends outward through a guide slot 12 in the guide tube, and 1s m. contact with a spiral slot on the rotatlve screw tube. As the slot 12 is straight, the carrier 0 moves straight along the guide tube when the cap 2 is turned. These are well known features of a pencil of this kind, so that they are not a part of this invention.

At the inner end of the guide tube 6 is held 'a short tube 1) with ofiset slots on opposite sides, which is called in this specification a carrier controller. The carrier controller is secured to the end of the guide tube by means of a cross pin 13, which GXteTldSr through circumferential slots 14: of the controller so that the latter can rotate at a certain angle relative to the guide tube. The spring 15 provided between the carrier controller b and the guide tube 6 acts to restore the controller 6 to its normal position where the guide slots 12 register with a curved edge 17 of passages 18 which are at the front end of the carrier, as best shown in Fig. 4. The passage 18 terminates in a recess 19, which is just behind the curved edge. The func tion of the curved edge is to cause the controller to rotate against the action of the spring 15 when the lug 10 presses the controller at this edge.

A spring 20 is provided at the bottom of the guide tube in order to push out the lug when the latter is in the innermost position in the guide tube.

The action is as follows lVhen one of the lead carriers is moved to the extreme end by the screw tube, its lug presses the curved edge 17 so that the controller turns through a small angle against the action of the spring 15 and the lug gets in the passage 18 compressing the spring 20. As soon as the lug reaches the bottom of the passage, the controller is restored to its normal position by the spring 15, so that the lug gets in the recess 19.

- In this condition, another lead carrier can be moved to and -fro along the guide tube by the rotation ofthe cap 2. When the second carrier gets to the innermost position, its lug presses the curved edge of another passage 18 so that the controller is rotated and the lug gets into another recess 19 as the first carrier did. However, when the second carrier gets to nearly the bottom of the passage 18, the controller is turned so that both passages 18 register with the guide slots 17 and before the controller is turned back by the spring 15,- the lug of the first lead carrier which has been under the ressure' of the spring 20 is pushed out from t e recess 19 into i tube. Then the controller is turned back by the spring 15 and the second carrier is caught in the recess 19 by its lug 10'. In this condition the first carrier is out of action and the second carrier can be moved in either direction by means of the cap 2;

In this manner, either of the carriers is out of action, and the other carrier can be moved to and fro by the cap. In case the carriers are to be brought into action alternately, the cap should be turned until the acting carrier comes to its innermost position, then the resting carrier gets out of the recess while the first carriers is caught by the recess so as to be out of action.

What I claim is p 1. A pencil having a screw tube rotatively mounted on a stationary guide tube longitudinally divided into two compartments each having an open longitudinal slot, a lead carrier in each compartment, and means to move each lead carrier along the guide slot of the guide tube by means of a cap piece, characterized b having a carrier controller rotatively provided at the inner end of the guide tube, said controller being so constructed that two recesses on the controller do not register with the guide slots when it is in its normal position, but can be made to register with the slots when either of the carriers is brought to the innermost position in' the guide tube.

2. A encil having a screw tube rotatively mounte on a stationary guide tube longitudinally divided into two compartments each having an open longitudinal slot, a lead carrier in each compartment, and means to move each lead carrier along the guide tube by means of a cap piece, characterized by having a carrier controller rotatively provided at the inner end of the guide tube, said controller consists ofa short tube with two oifset' slots on its outer end, the edge of said carrier in line with the offset portion of each of said slots being made in a curve which is pressed by a lead-carrier when the latter is brought to the innermost position so as to turn the controller, a spring which tends to bring thecontroller to its normal position, and another spring which tends to push out the carriers from the recesses in the controller.

EIKICHIRO ETOH. 

